First things first, we stopped by the Cavern tonight to check out DJ G's set, and we've gotta say it was pretty goddamn solid. It is 80's music, but its not lame flashback cafe crap. In fact, we have never heard most of what he played before, and the stuff we had heard before was right on the money. Just really good dance synth new wavey house music that was a pleasure to listen to. And although the crowd was small, most of the people who were there were attractive, dancing their asses off, and seemed to be having a blast. Lets hope that the crowds get bigger, because this could be a pretty fun excuse to show up to work hung over on Thursday morning.

Also, theres a pretty good discussion about Dallas music going on in this here comment thread, and we were hoping that some other people would join in.

We'll give you our #1 album of 2005 some time tomorrow, along with some other stuff. CYA

1. The Party w/ DJ Nature (Rubber Gloves, Denton)
As if the music he's playing isn't enough reason to check out this night, Nature will be passing out free mix CDs tonight, mostly consisting of stuff he's been playing on Wednesdays. Heres the track list:

1. Sex in the Kitchen - R.Kelly 0:52 2. Tiger in Harlem - Nick Dewitt 3:11 3. Welcome to Jamrock - Damian Marley 1:22 4. Still Tippin inst. - Mike Jones 0:37 5. Hater - Vars007 2:51 6. P's and Q's (diplo mix) – Kano 2:24 7. They Dont Know - Paul Wall 1:05 8. Idioteque – Radiohead 2:38 9. Back it up Boys – Peaches 1:50 10. Me So Horny - 2 Live Crew 2:12 11. Popuzuda Rock n' Roll - De Falla 1:46 12. Injecao - Deise Tigrona 1:57 13. Bucky dun Gun - M.I.A. 2:08 14. Bochecha Ardendo - Os K-rrascos & Vanessinha de Picatchu 3:00 15. Push It - Salt n Pepa 3:05 16. Shorty Swing My Way - Kp and Enyi 3:22 17. Rize to the Occasion – Sizzla 2:35 18. Nomad for Love – GangGangDance 2:04 19. Combustivel - Arto Lindsay 2:37 20. Dil Lena Khel Hai Dildar Ka - R.D. Burman 1:59 21. Galang 05 feat. Cham - M.I.A. 3:11 22. Random - Lady Sovereign 2:13 23. Hey Girl - Busy Signal 2:56 24. Notorious – Turbulence 2:19 25. Lucky You – Nanko 2:54 26. That Day Will Come - Capleton 0:54 27. Jah is Worthy - Chuck Fenda 1:14 28. Lonely Girl - Bosom X 1:38 29. Living in Love - I Wayne 3:47 30. Thanks and Praise - Fantan Mojah 2:12 31. No Ordinary Love – Allain 1:29 32. How Come - Morgan Heritage 0:51 33. Falling - Mr. Easy 0:45 34. Far From Reality - Natural Black 1:07 35. Never Gonna Be The Same - Sean Paul 1:30 36. Tears – TOK 1:29 37. Love Is - Jah Cure 3:43

Um, thats good party stuff.

2. 80s Night with DJ G (Cavern)
So we hear that this isn't just some Tainted Love, Walkin' on Sunshine 80's night, but instead that early Chicago acid house, no wave, good new wave, and all different kinds of stuff gets played each week. Sounds good to us.

Yeah, um, we're just learning about this whole podcast thing. There happen to be three DFW based podcasts that have caught our attention as of late. And although we've only heard a little of all three of these things, we think they're pretty good and at least worthy of a listen or two. So, here they are with their websites. We plan on writing a review about each of their next episodes, and sharing our thoughts. Aren't we nice?

1. DConstruction: The most locally oriented of the three.
2. Indie Interviews
3. Dallas Does Indie

What do you guys think about them?

Whenever we hear someone say "dude, its all about the music, man," we kind of have to laugh a little bit. Since when has rock, especially "indie" rock, EVER been "all about the music?" In most cases, "it" has very little to do with the music, or at least has equally to do with style, time, place, press, marketing, and whatever else goes into our decisions to buy certain records and not buy others. Of course the music matters, it matters a lot, but so does the seemingly extraneous context in which a band gets a break, releases an album, or plays a show. Even if we don't realize it, things other than music affect whether and how much we like particular songs, bands and albums, and they do so to a greater degree than most musicians and critics are willing to admit. Can you tell me that Velvet Underground would be as famous as they are if they didn't hang around Andy Warhol at the Factory, or that Nirvana would have made it as big if they weren't from Seattle, or that you wouldn't have liked that Maximo Park show any less if you hadn't been on a hot date that night? Of course not.

Case in point this year was Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. They self released their debut album, effectively sticking it to the man and sending a warm message to bands everywhere that they can spread the word and even make a little money these days without the support of ANY record label at all. Another significant thing CYHSY did was negotiate an unprecedented distribution deal directly with Warner Music's ADA distribution, the first of its kind that the company had ever done. Oh and another thing, this band got indie street cred faster than just about any other band in history. All the hipster blogs raved about them, the Williamsburg kids raved about them, Other Music ordered a bunch of CDs, Pitchfork gave them a 9.0 review, and the rest was history. Not to mention the fact that their sold out Gypsy Tea Room performance last fall was one of the most exciting concerts Dallas saw in 2005, even if the band was less than spectacular in its performance. So to put it mildly, this band had all the cards stacked in their favor a pretty long time before most people (even your hip ass) heard one note of their music. How were people not going to love them? And although the quality of the album warranted the hype, we couldn't help but speculate how much the hype machine influenced our love for this band, not to mention that of the mostly brainless Urban Outfitters army that embraced them with open arms. While its clear that all this excitement certainly influenced our experience with this record in some way, its also clear that the music might not have even needed the big push that it got, because it completely stands on its own.

If you forget the first song, you'll notice that this record flows seamlessly from one track to the next, even in places where the pace and feel of one song differs greatly from the next. "In This Home on Ice" was one of the best songs of 2005, recalling the Talking Heads and padding that sound with a burst of emotion and energy not unlike that heard in most songs performed by their other closest reference point, Neutral Milk Hotel. "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" was also one of the best songs of 2005, and featured what was probably one of the year's best bass lines. All throughout the album, manic vocals and cryptic lyrics met with tight instrumentation and melancholy pop hooks that always seemed to counter the band's darker aspects with a sense of joy that added even another layer to the record's complexity. And although all the other blogs said pretty much the same thing, we really did hear it too, and we really did like it just as much. Not to mention the fact that, as discussed above, the band was as good of a story as it was a listen, making the whole thing a little more exciting. Context does matter, and these guys were in the middle of a quite fortuitous set of circumstances. But the record convinced us not to be so cynical, and that indie hype might still, after all, only come as the result of a band being pretty damn good to begin with. Heres to hoping that its at least "kind of about the music, dude."

yes. yes it does.

1. Lost Generation w DJ Mwanza (Cavern)
We heard that Mwanza is out of town and that there will be a guest DJ tonight. We'll let you know when we hear who it is, but we think they'll be playing similar tunes... which is a good thing.

Get ready everyone. Wave bye bye to a constitutional right to privacy, which has implications that go farther than just abortion. Wave hello to an executive branch shrouded in secrecy with unprecedented power, now that there are four conservative ideologues on the court, and a fifth, Anthony Kennedy, that usually goes along with them on most issues. Say goodbye to the federal government's right to make and enforce consumer protection regulations through the commerce clause as Alito and company take us back to a view of federalism that hasn't been popular since the 19th century. Say hello to a man that is willing to ignore stare decisis when it isn't convenient for him to give it the proper consideration. And with the retirement of Justice O'Connor, get ready to say hello to the most conservative court since the early 1930's.

Although its true that Anthony Kennedy supported the majority decisions in Roe and Casey, it is also true that he almost voted to overturn Roe in Casey, and was so close to doing so that Rehnquist had already drafted a majority opinion in which he expected Kennedy to join. The fact that there are technically still five people on the court that support Casey doesn't give me much comfort. And really, although abortion is an important issue, I think it will seem like small potatoes compared to the other things that this super conservative court will do with business issues, race issues, criminal procedure issues, and federalism. And what is really sad is that the democrats didn't do everything they could to stop it. Why not filibuster? They had the votes to do it. And politically, what were the risks of doing it? Alienating the majority of the country that favors legal abortion, does NOT support George W. Bush, thinks that Republicans are more tied to special interests than Democrats, and wants a change in congress this year? I don't think so. Instead the Dems rolled over and played dead, like they always seem to do. Whats it going to take to wake these jerks up? If a lifetime appointment of a man like Alito to the most powerful domestic court in the western world isn't serious enough to get them in gear, I don't know what will.

Yeah yeah yeah, pretty cliche. We know that this record has been near the top of just about every year end list you've read. And we also know that this band does sound like you know who to some extent. But we'll go ahead and take sides with the L Train clones rather than the haters, because we listened to Wolf Parade more than just about any other band this year, and unlike some of the other albums on our year end list, Apologies to the Queen Mary was easier to get into than Texas Tech. Its a record that you can put on at any time in just about any place, and all year long we did just that.

And really, does Wolf Parade actually sound like Modest Mouse THAT much? Maybe "Grounds for Divorce" does, but should that really hold you back from getting into a record that is clearly an almost masterpiece? See, if Wolf Parade sounds like Modest Mouse, it sounds like Modest Mouse did in 1996. Not how 1996 Modest Mouse sounds right now, but how it sounded then. New. Exciting. Different. A record you want to talk about, think about, and oh yeah- listen to. All the damn time. Wolf Parade is catchy and poppy without being dumb or cute, and they also have two of the most compelling vocalists that we've heard in a straight up indie pop band in a long time, not to mention some of the greatest organ/synth arrangements to be recorded since god knows when played over bouncy, tight rhythms that hold it all together while teasing you with the possibility that everything might just fall apart. You can go to Pitchfork or the New York Times to read much more eloquent descriptions of their sound if you need to, and chances are you've probably already heard this record anyway. So we won't bore you with the details.

If this band was a Modest Mouse rip off and still good, we would probably not hate them.... but we would know their limitations. Wolf Parade takes tiny pieces of whatever Modest Mouse does, along with Arcade Fire, Neutral Milk Hotel, David Byrne, OMD and dozens of other critic favorites from past and present. Then it makes it something completely different, fusing those influences with a confidence and energy that you don't hear every day. Or even every year. And we can promise you, Apologies to the Queen Mary is just as, if not more exciting than anything Modest Mouse has done in quite a while... not to mention pretty much every other band on the planet.

(NOTE 1: Here is a cut that you might not have heard. Its called "Disco Sheets" and its from the Wolf Parade ep that came out earlier in 2005. We don't know why it wasn't on the album, because we think its one of their best.)

(NOTE 2: As you might have figured out, this #3 tie means that there will be 11 albums in the top ten. Sue me.)